Body spacer accessories

ABSTRACT

Body spacer accessories for spacing adjacent body parts of a user, the body spacer accessories including a spacer having a non planar shape, the spacer being configured to reside between the adjacent body parts and to hold them apart. In some examples, the spacer is tubular. In certain examples, the body spacer accessory includes a fastener device coupled to the spacer, the fastener device being configured to secure the spacer to a desired position between the adjacent body parts.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to copending U.S. Application, Ser. No. 62/662,106, filed on Apr. 24, 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to wearable apparel, garments and accessories that address a ow around body parts, perspiration, and skin irritation.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to spacer accessories. In particular, body spacer accessories for spacing adjacent body parts of a user to facilitate increasing airflow between the adjacent body parts, reducing perspiration, and reducing skin irritation are described.

Known attempts to increase airflow between adjacent body parts, to reduce perspiration, and to reduce skin irritation are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. For example, existing attempts have relied on topical applications, such as lotions, antiperspirants, and salves, which can be messy, inconvenient, depleted, and ineffective. Other attempts have employed planar fabrics or wraps to add one or more fabric layers between adjacent body parts, which can decrease airflow, increase perspiration, and be uncomfortable in an effort to accomplish irritation.

Thus, there exists a need for more effective solutions to increase airflow between adjacent body parts, to reduce perspiration, and to reduce skin irritation. Examples of new and useful body spacer accessories relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.

SUMMARY

The invention is for a system and method that spaces adjacent body parts to separate them, increase the possibility of air flow and, thereby, reduce the temperature compared to what it would be if the body parts were in contact. The effect is to reduce or eliminate sweat and skin irritation that is caused by adjacent body parts being in contact with, or rubbing against, each other. One version of the invention is for a non-planar, preferably generally cylindrical, accessory that can be worn by women under their breasts adjacent the place where the lower region of the breast meets the chest wall. For women who wear bras, this version stays in place because the sides of the bra strap that extend from the breast to the chest also maintain the location of the accessory. Another version of the invention is an elongate, cylindrically-shaped accessory that terminates in opposing fasteners so that women who do not wear bras can wear the accessory and locate it under their breasts, again to separate lower regions of their breasts from adjacent areas of their chest.

The non-planar, cylindrical shape of the accessory of the invention effectively separates lower regions of a woman's breast from adjacent chest areas to achieve the above-identified results. With separation of body parts, there is an increased possibility of air flow, and corresponding reduction in the surface temperature of the body parts, which minimizes perspiration, and allows for evaporation and absorption, if perspiration occurs. The result is that the area between the lower breast and adjacent chest area is dry, relatively cool and odor-free.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of various embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the drawings provided herein. For the purpose of illustration, there is show in the drawings exemplary embodiments; however, the presently disclosed subject matter is not limited to the specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed.

FIG. 1A is a fragmentary, plan view that illustrates an accessory made in accordance with a version of the invention.

FIG. 1B, is a sectional view taken through lines 1A-1A of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a fragmentary side view, illustrating the area of a woman's body where one version of the invention may be placed and worn.

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the upper torso of a woman, with one version of the invention shown in position as worn on the woman's body.

FIG. 2C, a side view like 2A, but also illustrates a side, cross-sectional view of a version of the invention in position as worn on the woman's body.

FIG. 3A is a fragmentary side view, illustrating the area of a women's body while wearing a bra.

FIG. 3B, a side view like 3A, but also schematically illustrates a side, cross-sectional view of the version of the invention in position as worn inside a bra.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the version of the invention shown in FIG. 2B.

FIGS. 5A-D are schematic cross-sectional views, like FIG. 1B, of other versions of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed body spacer accessories will become better understood through review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the figures. The detailed description and figures provide merely examples of the various inventions described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples may be varied, modified, and altered without departing from the scope of the inventions described herein. Many variations are contemplated for different applications and design considerations; however, for the sake of brevity, each and every contemplated variation is not individually described in the following detailed description.

Throughout the following detailed description, examples of various body spacer accessories are provided. Related features in the examples may be identical, similar, or dissimilar in different examples. For the sake of brevity, related features will not be redundantly explained in each example. Instead, the use of related feature names will cue the reader that the feature with a related feature name may be similar to the related feature in an example explained previously. Features specific to a given example will be described in that particular example. The reader should understand that a given feature need not be the same or similar to the specific portrayal of a related feature in any given figure or example.

DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply herein, unless otherwise indicated.

“Substantially” means to be more-or-less conforming to the particular dimension, range, shape, concept, or other aspect modified by the term, such that a feature or component need not conform exactly. For example, a “substantially cylindrical” object means that the object resembles a cylinder, but may have one or more deviations from a true cylinder.

“Comprising”, “including,” and “having” (and conjugations thereof) are used interchangeably to mean including but not necessarily limited to, and are open-ended terms not intended to exclude additional, elements or method steps not expressly recited.

Terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” are used to distinguish or identify various members of a group, or the like, and are not intended to denote a serial, chronological, or numerical limitation.

“Coupled” means connected, either permanently or releasably, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components.

The present invention is a system and method that spaces adjacent body parts to separate them, increase the possibility of air flow and, thereby, reduce the temperature compared to what it would be if the body parts were in contact. The result is to reduce or eliminate sweat and skin irritation caused by adjacent body parts being in contact with, or rubbing against, each other.

One version of the invention as described below in connection with the drawings, is a non-planar, preferably cylindrical, accessory that can be worn by a woman under lower regions of her breasts to separate those regions from the adjacent areas of the woman's chest. For that version of the invention, there are also different types. One type, for women who wear bras, is one piece that extends from one breast to the other. Another type of that version is in two pieces, with each piece dimensioned to fit under a breast. A third type, to be worn by a woman who does not wear a bra, includes fasteners that allow her to wear the accessory under her breasts and across her chest, extending to her back.

Referring to FIG. 1A, accessory 100 is shown in accordance with a version of the invention. The accessory 100 includes an elongate, cylindrical body 102 terminating in ends 104. Body 102 is flexible, and preferably soft or otherwise having a texture that is not irritating to the wearer. For example, it could be made of natural or synthetic fabric material, such as cotton, polyester, Lycra® fabric, or any other suitable material.

To wear accessory 100, it can be inserted under a lower region of the breast, as shown in FIGS. 2B-C, by holding it from its ends 104 and in between lower regions of the breast and adjacent areas of the chest that would otherwise be in contact with each other. Accessory 100 may be constructed of the suitable fabric materials noted above, and filled with a soft filler material, such as a polyester 1022, as shown in FIG. 1B. Further details of accessory 100 will be discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.

For reference, the cross section plane 1B-1B depicted in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B defines separation plane. The separation plane is an imaginary plane that extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the accessory. In particular, the separation plane extends between adjacent body parts. For example, the two-dimensional view depicted in FIG. 2A depicts free area 204 residing in the separation plane between lower breast region 203 and adjacent chest region 205. The longitudinally extending accessory defines multiple parallel separation planes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the accessory.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-C, a breast 200 of a woman is shown with an upper region 201, a central region 202, a lower region 203. A space, or free area, 204 is shown near the area of the woman's body that is between lower region 203 and an adjacent chest region 205.

Referring to FIGS. 2B-C, a type of accessory 100 that can be worn by women who do not wear a bra is shown in place so that it substantially occupies space 204 shown FIG. 2A. The way that accessory 100 fills space 204 is shown schematically in FIG. 2C having a triangular cross section. The schematic depiction is to illustrate that accessory 100 can be constructed to be deformable so that it will change from having a substantially circular cross section when there is no external pressure, to a deformed cross sectional shape that allows it to fit between the lower region of a breast and the adjacent chest wall.

Referring a gaits to FIGS. 2B-C, placement of accessory 100 in the location shown allows it to separate lower region 203 from adjacent chest area 205. The non-planar structure of accessory 100 separates two adjacent body parts, such as lower region 203 of breast 200 from adjacent chest area 205 that it would otherwise become in contact due to gravity.

Referring to FIGS. 3A-B, for women who wear bras, accessory 200 is placed between the lower region 203 and adjacent chest area 205. Outer, lower regions of the bra that extend from the front to the back of the wearer's chest function to keep the invention in place between the lower breast and the adjacent chest area. In those figures, a left breast of a woman wearing a bra 302, shown by dashed lines, is shown.

Referring to FIG. 3B, free area 204 is substantially filled by accessory 200 that has been placed in between lower region 203 of the breast and chest wall 205. The result of accessory 200 being located as schematically depicted in FIG. 3B is to reduce or eliminate sweat and skin irritation caused by adjacent body parts being in contact with, or rubbing against, each other.

Referring to FIG. 4, for women who do not wear bras, further details of accessory 100 are shown including a fastening strap 106. The fastening strap may include a fastener 108, which could take the form of any suitable fastener, not solely the type depicted in the figure. For example, the fastener may be a buckle, a hook, a Velcro® style fastener, a button, etc. The strap may be also be constructed so that it is adjustable to tighten as desired around a woman's chest. Strap 106 may also be made up of same material as the operative part of accessory 100 describe above, or any other suitable material. Its shape could be planar, as it does not need to separate body parts as does the operative part of accessory 100.

With respect to the possible dimensions of accessory 100 or 200, depending upon the size of the wearer's breast and chest, the width could be 1-2.5 inches, the length 12-24,″ and the thickness could be about ½ inch to 1.5.″ For versions of the accessory that include two pieces, one for each breast, about half of the above dimensions could be used to guide construction of each piece.

For versions of the accessory that include one piece, a central region of the device may be formed with a V-shape, to minimize the possibility of seeing the accessory when it is worn by women who also happen to wear a low-cut article of clothing that exposes cleavage.

FIGS. 5A-D, schematically show cross-sectional views of other versions of accessory 100, each being effective to separate body parts, but doing so with other than cylindrical shapes, such as the square 502, triangular 504, double cylindrical 506, and hexagonal 508 cross-sectional shapes of FIGS. 5A-D, respectively. While not shown in the drawings, another version may have a generally oval cross section.

For all versions of accessory 100, the structure allows for ease of use, with easy insertion and removal of it relative to a desired region of the human body.

The disclosure above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in a particular form, the specific embodiments disclosed and illustrated above are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed above and inherent to those skilled in the art pertaining to such inventions. Where the disclosure or subsequently filed claims recite “a” element, “a first” element, or any such equivalent term, the disclosure or claims should be understood to incorporate one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.

Applicant(s) reserves the right to submit claims directed to combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed inventions that are believed to be novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of those claims or presentation of new claims in the present application or in a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to the same invention or a different invention and whether they are different, broader, narrow or equal in scope to the original claims, are to be considered within the subject matter of the inventions described herein. 

1. A body spacer accessory for spacing adjacent body parts of a user, comprising a spacer having a non-planar shape and being configured to reside between the adjacent body parts and to hold them apart.
 2. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, wherein the spacer extends along a longitudinal axis and defines a separation plane transverse to the longitudinal axis, the separation plane extending between the adjacent body.
 3. The body spacer accessory of claim 2, wherein a cross section of the spacer in the separation plane defines a circle.
 4. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, herein a cross section of the spacer in the separation plane defines a rectangle
 5. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, a cross section of the spacer in the separation plane defines a triangle.
 6. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, wherein a cross section of spacer in the separation plane defines two abutting circles.
 7. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, wherein a cross section of the spacer in the separation plane defines a hexagon.
 8. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, wherein the spacer is tubular with an outer shell.
 9. The body spacer accessory of claim 8, wherein the outer shell is soft and flexible.
 10. The body spacer accessory of claim 9, wherein the outer shell surrounds a void at least partially filled with a filler material.
 11. The body spacer accessory of claim 10, wherein the filler material is comprised of polyester.
 12. The body spacer accessory of claim 10, wherein the filler material is compressible.
 13. The body spacer accessory of claim 12, wherein the outer shell is configured to deform into the void the adjacent body parts press on the spacer.
 14. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, further comprising a fastener device coupled to the spacer, the fastener device being configured to secure the spacer to a desired position between the adjacent body parts.
 15. The body spacer accessory of claim 14, wherein the fastener device includes: an elongate tension bearing member; and a fastener attached to the elongate tension bearing member and configured to secure the elongate tension bearing member around the body of the user.
 16. The body spacer accessory of claim 15, wherein: the elongate tension bearing member is a strap; and the fastener is a buckle.
 17. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, wherein: the adjacent body parts of the user are a breast and a chest wall; and the spacer is configured to reside between the chest wall and a lower side of the breast to hold the breast and the chest wall apart.
 18. The body spacer accessory of claim 17, wherein the spacer is configured to be held in place between the chest all and a lower side of the breast by a bra worn by the user.
 19. The body spacer accessory of claim 17, wherein the body spacer accessory further comprises a fastener device coupled to tale spacer and configured to secure the spacer to a desired position between the breast and the chest wall for a user not wearing a bra.
 20. The body spacer accessory of claim 1, wherein: the adjacent body parts of the user are a first breast, a second breast, and a chest wall; and the spacer is configured to reside underneath both the first breast and the second breast and between the chest all and a lower side of the first breast and a lower side of the second breast to hold the first breast, the second breast, and the chest wall apart. 